USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The history of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638-1889 > Part 41
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
sermon. April, 1840, it was voted to sell rights to build sheds on the society's lands.
While the new meeting-house was in process of comple- tion, Rev. Rufus Hurlbut passed away. He died May 11, 1839, having been pastor of the church twenty-two years. He was a son of Steven Hurlbut, and was born in South- hampton April 21, 1787, graduated at Philips Academy in 1808, and at Harvard College 1813. He studied theology with Rev. Thomas Prentiss, D.D., of Medfield, whose daughter Mary he married Dec. 17, 1817. His wife was the granddaughter of Dr. John Scollay, who was for over forty years town clerk of Boston. Mr. Hurlbut was tall and thin, of dignified demeanor, agreeable and gentlemanly in his ways. He lived at the present Smith Jones house. He was buried in the old burying-ground where a slate stone marks his grave.
SETTLEMENT OF FIRST PASTOR.
Feb. 15, 1841, Rev. Josiah Ballard was called at a salary of six hundred dollars, and accepted the call. His installation took place March 2, 1841. The council was composed of the following ministers with their churches: Rev. Messrs. Brig- ham of Framingham, Harding of East Midway, Corner of Berlin, Hyde of Wayland, Horsford of Saxonville, Dyer of Stow, - of Medfield, Woodbridge of Acton, Means of Con- cord, Day of Marlboro. Rev. Mr. Buckingham of Milbury preached the sermon. For a time the tax for preaching was levied upon each person on the basis of the town valuation, but later, the money was raised by subscription, and recently the envelope system has been employed.
THE OLD PARISH.
After the division took place, the old parish disclaimed any formal or legal relationship to Rev. Rufus Hurlbut. March, 1839, it declared by vote that it no longer considered him their minister as he had withdrawn from them. The records state that after " a portion of the church and con- gregation had withdrawn and formed a new Society called
THE HURLBUT PARSONAGE, Sudbury Centre.
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Orthodox the old Society enjoyed the outward services of the Gospel irregularly," and that the church was reduced to a small number. We have not ascertained from record what membership was left; but Deacon Thomas P. Hurlbut was accustomed to state that " but one member remained with the old Parish." All the property was retained by the old society ; but the indications are that a portion, at least, of that which was portable was transferred to it by those who no longer worshipped at the old meeting-house, since one of the records of the Evangelical Union Church, dated February, 1839, is as follows: "To choose a committee to settle with Levi Dakin, the present Treasurer of the Church, and take the papers and money now in his hands, and keep them until claimed by the church, which may be formed in the first Parish." A few years afterwards the First Society had an increase of membership, and the church was reor- ganized as the records of the old parish state. (Page 38.) " In the Fall of 1844 the Church was reorganized, and a number of persons came forward and united in the Lord's Supper, with the few who were members before, and were acknowledged members of the First Church. The number then uniting was twelve."
For a time the old society had different preachers to supply the pulpit. From March 30 to September 22, accord- ing to a record book of Capt. Israel Haynes, no less than twelve different ministers preached there. In the summer of 1841, Rev. Linus Shaw was invited to preach, which he did till fall. Soon after, the meeting-house was remodelled, and in 1844, he was invited to preach there again ; he did so, and the result was his settlement as pastor. He was installed June 5, 1845, and continued in the pastorate till his death.
REV. LINUS H. SHAW.
Linus H. Shaw was born in Raynham Nov. 29, 1804, where he fitted for college with Rev. Enoch Sanford, pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Church. He entered Brown University, which he left at the close of two years in 1827, to engage in teaching. He was for a time second principal of the Bristol County Academy at Taunton, and in 1830, he
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entered the Divinity School, Cambridge, where he remained three years. In 1834, he was ordained at Athol. He mar- ried Louisa Alden Jones, and had five children, - Louisa, Henry, Joseph, Maria and Helen. In 1850, he built a house on Plympton Hill, a little north-east of Sudbury Centre, where he lived until his death, Jan. 5, 1866. Mr. Shaw was an estimable man, a valuable citizen, and much respected by the community. He was small in stature, dignified and gentlemanly in demeanor, quiet and unassuming in his ways. Nov. 24, 1864, he preached a sermon at a union service, held by the several churches of Sudbury, on the subject, " The Black man and the War; " which, at the people's request, was printed. Since the death of Rev. Linus Shaw, the fol- lowing ministers have acted as pastors for the First Parish : Revs. Bond, Dawes, Webber, Knowles, Willard, Sherman, E. J. Young and Gilman. For several years the church has had preaching but a small portion of each year.
MISCELLANEOUS.
In 1825, "the building Lanham Bridge was let out to E. Fairbank and David How for the sum of eighty eight dollars."
In 1826, the town granted thirty dollars " to furnish din- ners and powder for soldiers muster day."
In 1828, voted to exchange the old bell for a new one.
April 7, 1828, a road was accepted "from Wm Hunt's land, over land of Elisha Hunt to Lanham."
Nov. 14, 1831, " the town gave leave to have stoves placed in the porch of the meeting house, the funnel passing into the house up through the roof." Rev. Rufus Hurlbut offered to pay fifty dollars towards the expense of the stoves, provided others would raise the remaining amount. A subscription paper was started to which thirty-five names were sub- scribed. The sums pledged varied from fifty cents to six dollars, making in all one hundred dollars. Only three of the thirty-five are now living, - Walter Rogers, Hopestill Brown and Willard Walker.
In 1832, a road was accepted by the town " from the Berlin road to Ephraim Moore's." "Voted that the Poor be left
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
to the Overseers of the_Poor to let them out to one or more contractors for one year as they shall think best."
In 1833, the town chose a committee to petition the Post- master-General for a post office at the Centre, and also "to have the North and South offices discontinued. At the same meeting " voted to take the map [of the town] of Mr Wood at sixty-eight dollars." Also "voted that each individual in town shall have a map of the town for twenty-eight cents." Also " voted to authorize some person to give a warranty deed of the John Green farm."
In 1835, the town gave liberty to Thomas Plympton to enclose with a fence " the graves of his father and mother and family connections now buried in the grave yard."
In 1848 and 9, much excitement was caused in Sudbury, in common with other places, by the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia. The discoverer was James W. Marshall, who first saw it near the saw-mill of Capt. John A. Sutter, Feb. 2, 1846. The "gold fever" became quite general, and a number of persons started out in the hope of making their fortune, among whom were Humphrey Sawyer, Hiram Burr, Haman Hunt, Nichols Brown, Samuel and Edward Bacon, Thomas Stearns, Samuel Carr, Eli H. Willis, Samuel Gar- field, Elbridge Haynes and Levi Dow.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
1850-1875.
Names Applied to different Sections of the Town. - Division into Districts. - Change in the Districts. - Description of South Sud- bury. - Location. - Location of the Railroad Station. - The Boston and Worcester Highway. - Houses Situated along this Highway half a Century Ago. - Changes in Buildings. - The Village Grocery. - Captain Kidder's Shoe Shop. - Sketch of Captain Kidder. - Sketch of Mrs. Kidder. - The Mill. - Wadsworth Monument. - Industries. - Modern Improvements. - Former and Present Owners or Occupants of Homesteads. - The George Pitts Farm. - Descrip- tion of Sudbury Centre. - Location. - Oldest House. - Location of Old Buildings. - Noon House. - Parsonages. - Old Burying-Ground. Common. - Grocery Stores. - Mills. - Former and Present Owners or Occupants of Homesteads. - North Sudbury. - Location. - Post Office and Postmasters. - Industries. - Iron Ore. - Grocery Stores. Change in Construction of Houses. - Taverns. - Saw-Mill.
We may build more splendid habitations, Fill our rooms with paintings and with sculptures, But we cannot Buy with gold the old associations.
LONGFELLOW.
As we enter upon the history of the last half of the present century, it may be appropriate and interesting to pause in the narrative and notice some changes that have taken place in the various villages and districts as these relate to the occupants of homesteads, to industries, and the location of dwelling-houses, stores and shops. In doing this, it is desirable and essential to describe things as they are in the present period, not only that by the contrast we may better note the change which the passing years have brought, but that a knowledge of the present may thus be imparted to those who are to come after us, to whom the present will
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
be the past. Different terms have been used to designate the different parts of the town in different stages of its history. In early times, it was the " East and West Side of ye great River ;" later, it was the "East and West Pre- cinct," or the "East Side " and " Rocky Plain." After a time, the West Side was divided into wards for the purpose of notification of town meetings, road repairing, and militia organizations. At one time the territorial limit of certain official duties was the old Lancaster road. This ancient highway, probably, divided the town more equally than any other landmark of that time. Still later, the town was divided into districts for school purposes. The locality gave its name to the school, and the school gave its name to the district. But soon after the middle of the century the school districts underwent a change. The Pantry school- house at the road corners was removed, and a new building was erected by the " Great Road " for the North part or North Village. Another school-house was erected about a quarter of a mile south of Pantry bridge, and two schools were established at the Centre. A year later a school-house was built at South Sudbury. These events somewhat changed the designation of different parts of the town by districts ; yet, notwithstanding this, the history of the town is so associated with the five old and familiar school districts, that it is expedient to follow this division in describing dif- ferent parts of the town outside the villages. Before de- scribing the various school districts, however, we will give a description of the villages. The town has three distinct villages, - South Sudbury, Sudbury Centre and North Sud- bury. These all lie in a line, north and south, about midway of the town.
SOUTH SUDBURY.
The village of South Sudbury is about a mile south of the Centre, on the Boston and Worcester highway and the Mas- sachusetts Central and northern branch of the Old Colony Railroad. Until recently it was known as "Mill Village." It has a store, post office, machine shop, blacksmith's shop, school-house, chapel, grist-mill, a junction depot, the Good-
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now Library, and about fifty dwelling-houses. The depot is a little westerly of the village, in the locality known to the old inhabitants as "Dana Hunt's swamp," formerly part wood and part pasture, which belonged to the old Thompson estate. The place was once resorted to by the villagers for bilberries, and children picked young checker-bush there. The swamp, though not large, contained a variety of shrub- bery, mixed with pines, oaks and birches. In winter it was quite a resort for partridges, affording both feeding-ground and shelter for them. An old hunter informed me that he had passed through there in the morning and shot birds, and returning at night had taken others, which had flown in during the day from the neighboring woods.
The oldest house in the village is the " John Allen house," first east of the store on the north side of the road. It probably dates as far back, at least, as 1700, and may have been built by Abraham Woods, who near that time leased the mill, or by the Noyeses who built it. The house for- merly had a long sloping roof on the back, was painted red, and had a door on the east side. Tradition tells of a small house that stood near the site of the blacksmith's shop by the mill. It also says .that, one day, the Indians appeared on the rising ground just over Mill Brook (Leavett's Hill), and a woman at the house made them think men were about by calling out, " Be quick, boys, the Indians are coming !" whereupon the Indians fled.
South Sudbury has undergone various changes. The Boston and Worcester highway formerly went south of Green Hill, then followed "the old road " to the village, and beyond the bridge it turned southerly and left the Cutler and Walter Rogers houses on the north, and came out by the Wheeler house near the clay-pits that were formerly on the old Gibbs farm. This highway in former times was much travelled. Loaded teams came from as far as Vermont, and sometimes two or three stages daily passed over it. One day a three-horse team from Brookfield was coming up Green Hill when a flash of lightning killed every horse. Along this road the village was built. The only buildings on the south side of it fifty years ago, between Abel Smith's at Green Hill
2
MILL VILLAGE, 1855. So. Sudbury. From an original painting by A. S. Hudson.
1. Saw and Grist Mill. 2. Hunt's Store
3. Tavern. 5. Green Hill. G Wareworth Monument
4. Wadsworth Academv.
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
and the bridge, were Capt. Enoch Kidder's house (John B. Goodnow's), built in 1813 or 14, the mill buildings, the blacksmith's shop (J. P. Allen's), built in 1826 and lately demolished, and an old barn nearly opposite the Allen house. In this old barn, tradition says, a noted character, commonly called Tom Cook, sometimes stopped for the night. This man was a notorious tramp or itinerant thief, well known for his eccentric ways. A little later the Kidder shoe shop was built, just east of the Kidder house. On the north side of the road were about a dozen buildings between Green Hill and the bridge. The first by the brook was a blacksmith's shop, where the Browns made billhooks, cleavers, hatchets and knives ; next to this was the Thompson malt house, to which the town's people brought barley for malt; beyond this was the William Brown place, a low, one-story house; and further on at the west corner of the Boston and Worces- ter and meeting-house roads was the "tavern stand ; " beyond the tavern, on the opposite corner, was the store kept by Gardener and Luther Hunt, a small building with an L running north ; next in order came a dwelling-house since burned, Fisher's wheelwright's shop, the Woods or Allen house, the Fisher house, and a few rods up the hill the house occupied by Josiah Richardson, which is still standing. Be- tween this house and Green Hill was only the Cutter place (Hiram Goodnow's) and the Gideon Richardson place (now Newton place). Up to 1825, there was no house on the " meeting-house road " to the Israel How Brown place. Such was South Sudbury half a century ago. The changes that have come over it have been gradual; no sudden or single stroke has swept the landmarks away, but one by one they have gone. The old store was burned Feb. 14, 1841, and the one built in its place shared a like fate in 1887. A new mill was erected in 1853, which in 1886 was burned, and the same year another was built on its site. The blacksmith's shop and malt house, after years of disuse, were torn down, one about thirty, the other about forty years ago. About 1864, the tavern buildings were demolished. In 1861 and 62, the Goodnow Library was put up by John Harriman. In 1857, Wadsworth Academy was built, and in 1879 it was burned,
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
and the Congregational Chapel erected in its place in 1880. Thus change has been active with its busy hand. The history of some of these buildings that have thus passed away is of considerable interest. The old store was the only village grocery for scores of years, as was also its successor. Tradition says it was established by Capt. Levi Holden, who commanded the "south militia company." Subsequent to Captain Holden's possession, it was owned by Asher Cutler, and kept by Abel Cutler and Jesse Goodnow, and was pur- chased by Messrs. Gardener and Luther Hunt near the beginning of the present century. Much spirituous liquor was sold at this grocery to the people in all the country round, till the starting of the temperance cause, when the traffic in rum there ceased. G. and L. Hunt were succeeded by Charles and Emory Hunt. The present proprietor is George, son of Emory. Formerly, this store was the centre of an extensive trade. About the year 1850, there was a large barter in straw braid. Women and children braided straw in their homes from the material cut green in the rye field, then dried, whitened and split, and turned straw upon straw in " seven strand," which brought from a half cent to two cents a yard. Teams from the neighboring towns brought this work, which was exchanged for a variety of wares, and the hitching-posts of the entire store front were sometimes all in use at one time. An old store sign was "Furniture, Feathers & Crockery Ware Rooms," and this included stoves, carpets, and sundry commodities not always found in a country store. In process of time the braid trade ceased, the old mill that " brought custom " ceased for a time "to grind the town's corn," the old " firm " was dissolved, and a part of the store became a private dwelling-place ; since then the other part has been an ordinary store for the sale of English and West India goods. Besides Hunt's store another place of some interest was the "Kidder shoe shop." This has lately been remodelled and made into a private residence, but for years the upper part was a shoe shop and the lower used as a grocery. In the earlier life of the well-known proprietor, business at this shop was very brisk. In addition to the local patronage, marketers were
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HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
accustomed to leave orders as they came from the towns beyond. This was, perhaps, one of the last places where the old " tongue " boot was made. The Kidder shop was quite a resort for the villagers on a wet day or winter's evening. There they gathered and gossiped and smoked as the night's early hours went by. It was a quaint old place. Pictures of a patriotic and political character - " The Battle of Bunker Hill," "The Storming of a Mexican Fort," like- nesses of Webster, Benton, Calhoun and Clay - were upon the walls, and near the ceiling hung two flint-lock muskets left over when the militia broke up. Captain Kidder was bent in form and looked old when those now middle-aged were young. He was a Whig and held various town offices. His wife was the village florist, and various and wonderful to our eyes were the plants and flowers that grew in Mrs. Kidder's " front yard." Besides these, there were in the side yard beds and boxes of plants. In this collection was a fig-tree which she had cultivated from the seed and which at one time bore one or two hundred figs. On the place were high cherry-trees, heavy in their season with luscious fruit, and apple-trees that were choice and in those days rare. Mrs. Kidder was a good-hearted, benevolent woman, of large hospitality, and, like her husband, was much esteemed. As the Kidders were so well and so widely known, a short sketch of the household may properly be considered a part of the historic sketch of South Sudbury.
Enoch Kidder was born in 1777 and died in 1865. He was a brother of Dr. Kidder, a physician of Sudbury. (See Chapter on Physicians.) In early life he learned the tan- ner's trade. On moving to Sudbury he commenced the manufacture of boots and shoes. For a time he occupied the Josiah Richardson house. After building the Kidder house, for a time he used the east part of it for a shop or a lodging-place for his apprentices. His trade was largely with the old shoe firm of Faxon and Company of Boston, and his reputation was known far and near as a manufacturer of reliable work. At one time he was captain of the militia, and was sent as representative to the Legislature. His wife, Hannah Newton of Marlboro, born in 1781, was, before her
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marriage, a school teacher, and was a personage as con- spicuous as was the shrubbery that adorned her home. Her loud, cheerful voice was a familiar sound in the village, as, on a bright morning in June, she bustled about the premises as busy as the bees among her bright flowers. A green turban sat on her head which broadened her genial face, and when she went out for a neighborly call she wore a " calash " of the same color. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Kidder, the house- hold consisted of a daughter Nancy, born in 1807, who was the only child living, and Miss Almira Cutter, the house- keeper. Nancy was the pet of the home and a general favorite ; she was of delicate health and died in 1856. " Mira " Cutter, as the housekeeper was familiarly called, belonged to the Cutter family of Sudbury. She went to Mrs. Kidder's to spend the day and remained forty years, having the main charge of the household and outliving the whole family. She died a few years ago and was buried in the Kidder tomb in Wadsworth Cemetery.
Another object of interest is the mill. At one time it was owned by Asher Cutler. We were informed by his grandson, the late C. G. Cutler, that he was very rigid, and would shut down the mill at sundown Saturday night. Asher Cutler left the mill jointly to his sons, Asher and Abel, the former of whom lived in the " Woods house." The fact that the house and the mill were both owned by the same parties at different periods leads to the conjecture that the two pieces of property, for a time at least, went together, and possibly the " Woods House " was built by the Noyeses who put up "the mill." Later owners have been General Sawin, a militia officer, who also owned the old tavern stand, Jesse Brigham, and Mr. Knight who sold it to Abel Richardson. This mill has not only ground the town's corn, but some also for the region around. For years it was a grist and saw-mill combined : the former was run by a large breast-wheel and had two run of stones, the latter, by a wheel of itself which ran an upright saw. The " Mill Lane," which led from the county road, used to be well filled with " saw logs," mostly white pine and oak. A few years ago, the old upper dam, which was a few rods north of the bridge, was in use.
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Three gates that could be raised with an iron bar controlled the waters that for acres above, at certain seasons, set it back nearly to Hayden's bridge. The present dam by the bridge is of recent construction, and was built by Charles O. Parmenter, the present owner. The old mill was demolished about 1853, and another was put in its place, which, about 1866, was leased to Samuel Rogers and Company for manu- facturing purposes. After being used for making hats and leather board it again became a grist-mill, and so continued until, a few years ago, it was destroyed by fire. A new mill has been erected on the site of the old one, and still the farmers of Sudbury bring their grists to the same old spot where their grain has been ground for about two hundred years. Another building of interest was the Wadsworth Academy. (See Period 1850-1875.) The old tavern stand was another familiar spot. (See Chapter on Taverns.)
The principal object of interest in this village is the Wadsworth Monument. From the hill slope (Green Hill), just east of the monument, is a magnificent prospect, as the country outstretches for miles to the westward without a hill to obstruct the view. On this hill-top was Wadsworth's last battle-ground. (See Period 1675-1700.) A part of South Sudbury village is situated in a quiet vale, with a spur of Green Hill on the north and Leavitt Hill on the south ; the former takes its name from the evergreens tliat once grew upon it, and the latter from Leavitt How whose home was on the south side of it; an old cellar hole still marks the spot.
INDUSTRIES.
The industries of South Sudbury have been various. In 1794, besides the saw and grist-mill run by Cutler and Holden, there was a fulling-mill run by Mr. Reed. About three-quarters of a century ago, bricks were made at the Gibbs place and also at the Farr farm. Clay-pits at both places are yet to be seen unless recently filled. As has been noticed, malt was made at the malt house (Thompson's), people coming from all parts of the town for this product. Leather was tanned by William Wheeler at a place just
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